Verse 51847aa;Nnahii;N
G3
1
{although / however much} there is life-meltingness of anger/violence and wrath/rebuke
2
{although / however much} there's no support/'back-warmth' of fortitude/'heat' and strength
'Although, even if, notwithstanding; --how-much-soever, howsoever; as often as'.
'Warm support'. (Steingass p.252)
'Heat, warmth; burning, inflaming; pain, affliction, grief; anger, indignation, wrath, rage; light, radiance, lustre, splendour; strength, power, ability, capability; endurance'.
| References | |
|---|---|
| Arshi, Imtiyaz Ali | Ghazal# 108 |
| Raza, Kalidas Gupta | 204 |
| Hamid Ali Khan | Open Image |
Although [] her anger and wrath are melting my life, although fortitude and endurance responded to it-- even so, the afflicted one is saying, 'if some cruelty is left, don't hold it back, and even now I'm not asking for a truce'. (90)
== Nazm page 90
Although [] her anger is life-melting, and there's no strength for endurance in us, even so we don't ask for a truce from the anger; rather, we seek more wrath. (81)
Although this anger and wrath is melting my life, despite this, the power of fortitude and strength has enabled me to respond [as in the next verse]. (142)
Although her anger is life-melting, and my strength too doesn't stay with me, nevertheless my courage rouses my enthusiasm. Even now my spirit says,'If there are any troubles left, then bring them along too-- I still don't ask for respite!'. (185-86)
Isn't it striking that both lines begin with ? We can't really make grammatically complete sense of two 'although' clauses. Formally speaking, it's hard to see how this verse can be made to consist of a grammatically complete sentence or thought. Ghalib has presented us with a strange, oblique, suggestive fragment, with no possibility of grammatical coherence or closure.
But not to worry. This is the first verse of a two-verse verse-set . All the commentators read the two verses together, as a single grammatical whole, which surely seems the best approach. This is the first case of a Ghalibian 'compulsory verse-set' that I've seen. Usually the verses in a verse-set can fruitfully be read together, as parts of a larger whole, but each is also structurally complete on its own and makes at least some sense independently. Not this time, however. Since this verse is only a sentence fragment, it is inextricably joined to the next verse through grammatical enjambment.
In any case, the verse has excellent wordplay: , or 'warm support', literally means 'back-warmth', so that it resonates with 'meltingness' and , which has among its numerous meanings 'heat'. The sound effects of and also work well together.
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